Rock razor. Although specialized slaughter (similar tread pattern) is cheaper, lasts longer and is arguably better.
All Mountain Tyres
- Thread starter tasty.dirt74
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Shadow Puppet
Likes Dirt
Was it a Trail Star or PaceStar?
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Blue Mountain Bikes Brooklyn/Lahar/Kowa/PO1NT Raci
Shwalbbblebabble Compounds.
Shadow Puppet
Likes Dirt
Yep, that's what most people say. Rookie mistake.
teK--
Eats Squid
After slashing two rock razor in past month ( through the tread not the sidewall) I am done with schwalbe as a rear tyre.
Now rocking a high roller 2 exo and will replace it soon with a minion dhr2 as the hr2 squares out too much on 30mm rims.
At the moment running magic mary in front still even though corners get munched early they are a good tyre.
What are others running on wide rims (30mm+) as a front Tyre?, Maxxis don't do the minion dhf any wider than 27.5 x 2.3 unless going 2 ply. ..
Now rocking a high roller 2 exo and will replace it soon with a minion dhr2 as the hr2 squares out too much on 30mm rims.
At the moment running magic mary in front still even though corners get munched early they are a good tyre.
What are others running on wide rims (30mm+) as a front Tyre?, Maxxis don't do the minion dhf any wider than 27.5 x 2.3 unless going 2 ply. ..
pharmaboy
Eats Squid
You gotta pick the right tyres for the job.
If you wanted a decent pedalling rear, a HD was the absolutely wrong choice. I'd put a 2015 nobby nic on the rear as a match for the HD, that's the intended match. The problem with tyres designed for the front is they have high square edged knobs on the outer edge that are designed to cope with braking straight and generally not sliding - rears are often locked up, so high knobs can get ripped off easily on grippy rock surfaces.
Either rock razor on rear or nobby nic. Probably also depends on riding style, I never rip knobs off, but I also never lock the rear: better for the trails
No Skid Marks
Blue Mountain Bikes Brooklyn/Lahar/Kowa/PO1NT Raci
I mentioned it just the other day. But I'm running an Ardent Race EXO 3C 2.2 on 35mm rims. It's surprisingly good, haven't hit too many flat loose, or soft corners yet though. But on the hardpac, it seems alight. Super fast rolling compared to the 2.3 HighRoller it replaced. Will try 2.3 Ardent(not race) next. I'm sorta thinking smaller side knobs on wide rims might be the future. Less knob deflection.
The Ardent Race doesn't grip as well obviously, but has more feel for drifts and holds pretty damned well anyway. I have a Nobby Nic I'm going to try also.
HRII was terrible, although lots of people rate it on the wide rims on ridemonkey. I found it very unpredictable and not very grippy once in the drift zone or beyond the knobs.
The 2.2 Ardent Race is surprisingly quite a good shape on the 35mm rim. As mentioned, I'll go 2.3 Maxxis next though.
petertronica
Likes Dirt
Tek - was that the snakeskin or super gravity casing?
teK--
Eats Squid
Snakeskin.
Shadow Puppet
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Mate has had three punctures and one side wall tare in his Ardent Race. In the same time (about six months) I had zero punctures and we ride the same trails, usually together.
Im not saying Schwalbe are a stronger tyre, neither tyres are bomb proof, but riding style plays a big part as well as luck.
Im not saying Schwalbe are a stronger tyre, neither tyres are bomb proof, but riding style plays a big part as well as luck.
No Skid Marks
Blue Mountain Bikes Brooklyn/Lahar/Kowa/PO1NT Raci
What carcass type were both?
petertronica
Likes Dirt
The tread pattern / rolling resistance of the tyre makes a far bigger difference than the overall weight of the wheel.
e.g. if you put some dual ply 2.5 Minion DHF up on a set of superlight carbon xc rims, they might weigh the same (overall) as some 2.2 racing ralphs on a set of mavic 823. I know which ones I rather take for a 60km xc ride.
The 26" super gravity casing for the rock razor weighs in at 925g or thereabouts. Yes that's quite a lot, but the rolling resistance of the tyre is fairly low, and the casing is tough enough so if you do want to let it all hang out on the downs, you can. For comparison I've got a Minion 2.35 single ply that weighs 800g or so but it is well hard to pedal around.
petertronica
Likes Dirt
I've come across 3 people now who've destroyed the snakeskin version real quick (meaning they've damaged it so bad it won't hold air tubeless anymore).
Having said that, maybe any other tyre of equivalent weight would've been destroyed too?
Obviously totally rolling mass takes account. But we can't all afford expensive carbon wheels.
More grip is always better (usually). But like for like I was wondering how many people use dual ply minions in place if single ply minions on their AM bikes.
I've always found the extra protection overkill and the tires tend to feel a little more dull because of hard sidewalls. And the weight penalty can be major sometimes.
Just interested in hearing if the majority really value the extra protection.
teK--
Eats Squid
You have a point, in that Maxxis Exo versus Schwalbe Snakeskin would really just be comparing the sidewall damage resistance. In my case I slashed the tyres in the tread close to the shoulder so sidewall protection wouldn't have helped.
But slashing 2 in the space of a month just really pissed me off and highlighted the fact that the Schwalbes are so overpriced, unless you buy 3 at a time from Germany which gets them down to about $55. They also shear off corner knobs like crazy for people who ride them hard.
I just had another look at the Rock Razor but in Gravity Star. Having Snakeskin under the tread as well sounds like a winner (contributing partly to the 260g penalty) but the only compound available is trailstar which is too soft for a rear tyre given their price.
marc.r
Likes Dirt
^^^ yep. even if super gravitys have good sidewalls the cornering knobs are still soft (and grippy) so they are prone to tearing.
the best rubber out is conti black chili. as sticky as schwalbe trailstar but as hard wearing as maxxis tyres. if only they made a nice rear tyre :-( i love maxxis rears. (ikon/ardent race/ardent) the 2.4 rubber queen/mountain king in black chili are the shit. huge volume. sticky. nice grip. awesome tyre life. im seriously consdering running a 2.2 mountain king on the rear just so i can have matching contis.
the best rubber out is conti black chili. as sticky as schwalbe trailstar but as hard wearing as maxxis tyres. if only they made a nice rear tyre :-( i love maxxis rears. (ikon/ardent race/ardent) the 2.4 rubber queen/mountain king in black chili are the shit. huge volume. sticky. nice grip. awesome tyre life. im seriously consdering running a 2.2 mountain king on the rear just so i can have matching contis.
Shadow Puppet
Likes Dirt
Just back from my first ride on the new version of the Nobby Nics Snakeskin. Now my last Racing Ralph was quite worn so you can't really compare a worn one with a new one but the Nobby Nics grip is fantastic. Climbing traction on loose steep technical singletrack was awesome. Downhill the cornering knobs really dug in and held a line really well. It's only been one ride but I can't really ask for more grip of a rear tyre. They roll surprisingly well too. Not as quick as a (worn) Racing Ralph but I'm happy with the slight trade off for the aggressiveness of tread the new Nobby Nic has. The knobs look much more robust than any other Schwalbe I've tried so far.
While the old racing Ralph and new Nobby Nic are both Snakeskin version and pacestar, the sidewall of the Nobby Nic feels a tiny bit thicker So far so good.
While the old racing Ralph and new Nobby Nic are both Snakeskin version and pacestar, the sidewall of the Nobby Nic feels a tiny bit thicker So far so good.